Former Alabama star Tyrone Prothro: 'I don't want to see somebody end up like me'

Former Alabama star Tyrone Prothro will always be remembered in Crimson Tide lore for his catch against Southern Miss in 2005 and his career-ending injury less than a month later. (The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore)

Tyrone Prothro, who once outran college football's finest athletes, walks on the side of his left foot. That has caused problems in his left knee and escalated to his hip.

So he's considering one more surgery -- paid for by the University of Alabama, like all of the previous ones since his gruesome fractured leg and infection in 2005. Some scar tissue would be removed and the foot would get straightened in its socket.

One more surgery to try to outrun whatever health issues may lie ahead.

"It might better my life as I go on," Prothro said. "Eventually, if I don't fix it, I might have more problems than I have now."

Prothro, who has been reluctant to talk publicly, is finally speaking about why he attached his name last year to Ed O'Bannon's class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and Collegiate Licensing Co. The suit argues that former athletes should be paid for the use of their images and likenesses that they sign away in college.

Prothro doesn't sound bitter that his promising NFL career ended before it started. He's trying to make a difference, he said, and now believes the trade-off to play college sports for a free education isn't a good enough deal for the athlete.

"It definitely seems like a fair deal, especially when you come from a family where your folks can't afford for you to come to school," Prothro said. "But at the same time, you look at all the revenue that the university makes off players -- not just Alabama, but other universities, too.

"Say you have a player end up like I did. Because I signed over my rights as a freshman thinking I was going to the NFL, now I can't do anything about pictures and jerseys and video games. I don't think it's a fair deal now that I look at it."

Birmingham attorney Chris Hellums, who is assisting Prothro in the O'Bannon lawsuit, said Prothro won't make a financial windfall from the case. Individual rewards in class-action suits, if they're successful, generally range from $500 to $25,000, Hellums said.

Like most athletes, Prothro said, he gave little consideration to the documents that athletes are instructed to sign to be eligible. He was eager to play and not thinking beyond tomorrow.

Tyrone Prothro, serving as honorary captain, acknowledges the crowd in Tuscaloosa in 2010 before a game vs. Ole Miss. (The Birmingham News/Mark Almond)

"There are other things to worry about than signing a bunch of papers during two-a-days," he said. "Now, I realize I signed over pretty much my rights to everything that I accomplished."

Prothro can't play anymore. But his image still pays other people.

Photos of Prothro are available on alabamacrimsontideprints.com for $34.99. The Electronic Arts college football video game for several years used an Alabama player with the same number, body size, skin color and closely-cropped hair as Prothro, and even included his distinctive black ankle braces.

Prothro's spectacular grab against Southern Miss in 2005 was named that season's Pontiac Game Changing Performance Play of the Year, resulting in a $100,000 donation to Alabama's general scholarship fund. He gets frustrated today when Pontiac uses video of the catch to promote its NCAA sponsorship.

"Somebody is getting paid off that," Prothro said, "and the person who had blood, sweat and tears is not seeing a dime off it."

It's one thing to make money off current players, he said. It's quite another to do so forever.

"I don't think (current) athletes should get paid, but I feel they should be compensated in some way, like something put aside after they graduate," Prothro said. "I don't want to see somebody end up like me."

Prothro now works as a teller at Regions Bank in Tuscaloosa, not far from Alabama's football complex. He wanted to coach in college, but determined the process would take too long, so he might try high schools someday.

Essentially, Prothro became the poster child for the O'Bannon lawsuit: Future financial payoff ruined instantly by a college injury. But he is done feeling sorry for himself.

"I've had my time to cope with my situation and I've moved on," he said. "I'm trying to figure out the next stage."